The Dangote Refinery, with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, has not commenced production as announced by Aliko Dangote, the President of the Dangote Group.
This is despite the earlier promise that the first product would be in the market by the end of July or the beginning of August.
[caption id="attachment_10323" align="alignnone" width="700"]
Dangote Refinery fails to start production on deadline. Photo: Business Day[/caption]
Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) had planned to cut down its fuel imports once the Dangote Refinery began production. However, with the delay, there are concerns about the impact on the country's fuel supply.
The Communications Department of Dangote Refinery has not provided any official statement regarding the delay.
A source within the refinery management also mentioned uncertainty about when production would begin,
Politics Nigeria reports.
Festus Osifo, the President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, suggests that the government should prioritize completing other local refineries, like the Port Harcourt refinery, rather than relying on the Dangote refinery.
He said:
“We should rather focus on making other refineries work because it would cut down on freight rates from importation, and would reduce prices.
“Dangote is a private businessman and can decide tomorrow that he would not refine again, although the government has a 20 per cent stake in the refinery.
“We should rather push for our own refineries, and ask the government the questions such as, when is the Port Harcourt refinery going to start refining petrol?”
The National Controller of Operations of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mike Osatuyi, reassured that there is no immediate cause for alarm regarding petrol supply, as NNPCL is still importing fuel.
He suggested that internal challenges at the Dangote refinery might be responsible for the production delay.
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